In the wine storage industry for nearly 30 years, Vinotemp,Irvine, Calif., offers multitap wine keg dispensers featuring bothmanual and customized by-the-ounce pours. They are pricedat about $2,700. Says Vinotemp’s Rick Bucci, national salesdirector, “Being able to pour a specific amount of wine meansproduct and profit are not lost to inconsistent pours.”Micro Matic USA has a manufacturing facility in Brooksville,Fla. It is another beverage dispensing equipment producer thathas added wine dispensing equipment to its product line. ThesePro-Line Wine products offer several options ranging in pricefrom about $2,100 to more than $5,000.

better quality for customers

Why bother serving on tap? For starters, wine on tap is
supposed to be fresher and cleaner in taste than wine that has
been bottled. Those who have tasted wine right from the barrel
at a winery know that this, generally, is true. Second, wine
on tap is better for the environment than wine in a bottle. No
cartons, bottles and labels means less trash in the dumpsters.
And that fits right in with today’s green movement. Finally, wine
on tap is less expensive for the winemaker, the restaurant owner
and the consumer, though not as inexpensive as some operators
had hoped.

A menu of 250 wines by the glass and a rebuild after a fire
made Mike Amidzich’s Pizza Man, Milwaukee, a natural for a
wine on tap program. He went with a Perlick system, and hasn’t
regretted it. “I wanted to offer my customers the freshest and
best-tasting wine possible,” he says. He is satisfied that he is
doing that. He has 16 wines on tap, and hopes to add more.

Once Amidzich’s customers try the tap wine, they are,
for the most part, hooked. “Even the upper-end wine drinkers
appreciate the flavor and the lower cost,” he says.

Vajra Stratigos is beverage director for Atlanta-based Fifth
Group Restaurants. At Lure, one of the group’s units, wine is
served on tap. The kegs come from The Gotham Project, and
include a prosecco.

“I believe we are the first restaurant in the Southeast to have
a sparkling wine on tap,” Stratigos says. “It’s really fun and
festive and a key part of our focus.” He believes that white wines
lend themselves more to on-tap delivery, and has a line dedicated
to a fast-selling white.

Like Pizza Man, Lure’s wine on tap program was installed
during the restaurant’s build-out. “Retrofitting is harder,”
Stratigos says.

“But it is possible,” says Vinotemp’s Bucci. “All you really
need is about four linear feet to put in one of our systems.” Wine
dispensing can also be from a remote location. “But I wouldn’t
run the lines longer than 20 feet,” he adds. “The environment
wouldn’t be good for the wine.”

Top: at Pizza man, mike amidzich has 16 wines on tap using a Perlick system.
middle: The wine on tap program at Nose Dive uses vinotemp equipment.